Auburn players are in Cullman to help clean up storm damage, as seen in this photo taken earlier this week (Birmingham News / Mark Almond)

Auburn coach Gene Chizik spent Thursday night at Radio Music Hall in New York watching Cam Newton and Nick Fairley go in the first round of the NFL Draft. Today, he and his football team are on the ground in the real world, helping tornado victims in Alabama.

Two busloads of players, coaches and administrative personnel are in Cullman and Pleasant Grove today helping with the cleanup of those two cities. Chizik wanted to keep the trips off the publicity circuit, but word slipped out.

An effort in the Auburn/Opelika area continues to build to help the victims of the storm in Tuscaloosa. Warren Tidwell, who is from Opelika and is one of the driving forces behind Toomer's for Tuscaloosa, said the operation has moved from Facebook to a dedicated website by that name.

Putting the Auburn-Alabama rivalry aside, Toomer's for Tuscaloosa is similar to the Tide for Toomer's Facebook effort that raised almost $50,000 after Auburn's famous oak trees were posioned.
Tidwell said four trucks will carry needed supplies to Tuscaloosa - including two large diesel-powered ice houses -- on Saturday.

Tidwell is a veteran of disaster relief, working through a 1998 tornado near Birmingham, and then with Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi. He said he learned how to handle disaster in the 1998 tornado.

"It gave me my first taste of being in a disaster area. After that experience, any time I can help in something like this, I will," said Tidwell. "I'm just random guy running an auto parts shop."

Also, part of a disaster relief program.

"To get the word out is wonderful," Tidwell said.

He said he's been besieged by people interested in helping.

"I've been connected from colleges from all over the country," he said.